I went to the Barbican last night for the Ron Arad: Restless exhibition. It was a really interesting showcase of his work mainly focusing on his chairs (but also including lighting design, shelving and architecture). This sounds really very dull but it wasn’t. The chairs were highly sculptural, organic and bordering on jewellery in many case.
Overall a very playful and fun experience. The set design of the exhibition used big LED screens to take you through the concepts and the meaning behind many of the pieces.
The last part of the exhibition focused on his architecture. Really interesting to see how his style evolves into large scale buildings.
The flickr gallery below showcases the exhibition.
Lolita – A Chandelier you can SMS.
Ron Arad: Restless
18 Feb–16 May/10
Bold, experimental and inventive, Ron Arad defies categorisation. This internationally acclaimed London based maverick is variously described as a designer, architect or artist.
To celebrate, Barbican Art Gallery stages the first major exhibition in the United Kingdom of the internationally acclaimed, London-based design maverick Ron Arad.
Ron Arad: Restless explores three decades of Arad’s designs from his early post-punk approach of assembling products from readymade parts to his exclusive and highly-polished sculptural pieces. Featuring a dramatic exhibition design by Ron Arad Associates using the latest LED display technology, Ron Arad: Restless also includes architectural designs and immediately recognisable mass-produced items. Highlighting the significance of experimentation, process and materials in Arad’s work, the exhibition offers a timely insight into the development of objects from initial idea and fabrication to finished design.
Spotted on the Barbican website – This looks like a very interesting use of a dead space in East London -
As part of Radical Nature, the experimental and socially engaged architectural collective EXYZT has created a dynamic satellite project, The Dalston Mill.
Inspired by an overgrown wasteland, EXYZT have been working closely with various local communities to turn a disused site in Dalston into a vibrant rural retreat for the people of the area and beyond. Literally occupying an abandoned garden, the project offers an exciting programme of events, screening and summer feasts.
For five nights this week, visitors to Trafalgar Square will be treated to spectacular illuminations covering the front of the National Gallery.
25 February – 1 March, 6–10pm
Picasso exhibition
You can also see real masterpieces by Picasso at the Gallery. The illuminations celebrate the opening of the National Gallery’s must-see exhibition ‘Picasso: Challenging the Past‘.
Interactive installation work is really becoming really interesting of late as more brands commision work and more design studios are born out of the frustration of working in one medium – really blurring the lines between art/architecture/design/interaction. A great way to introduce yourself to this world is with the upcoming Kinetica Art Fair.
Kinetica Art Fair is developed by Kinetica Museum in partnership with P3 and supported by the Contemporary Art Society.
More than 25 galleries and organisations specialising in kinetic, electronic and new media art are taking part with over 150 exhibiting artists. The Fair will be like no other with living, moving, speaking and performing art.
The Fair provides unparalleled opportunities for the public and collectors alike to view and buy work from this thriving international movement and to participate in the programme of talks, workshops and performances.
It’s on from friday 27th -> monday 2nd in London town and the lineup of speakers and performances looks great.
Le Corbusier (1887-1965), widely acclaimed as the most influential architect of the 20th century, was also a celebrated thinker, writer and artist. His architecture and radical ideas for reinventing modern living, from private villas to large-scale social housing to utopian urban plans, still resonate today.
Le Corbusier — The Art of Architecture is the first major survey in London of the internationally renowned architect in more than 20 years. This timely reassessment presents a wealth of original models, interior settings, drawings, furniture, photographs, films, tapestries, paintings, sculpture and books by designed and written by the architect himself.
The exhibition charts how Le Corbusier’s work changed dramatically over the years from the regional vernacular of his early houses in Switzerland, to his iconic Purist villas and interiors of the 1920s, to the dynamic synthesis achieved between his art and architecture as exemplified by his chapel at Ronchamp (1950-55), and his civic buildings in Chandigarh, India (1952-64). Important works by his collaborators, such as Fernand Léger, Amédée Ozenfant Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé are also featured.
Le Corbusier at the Barbican
Barbican celebrates Le Corbusier with a host of special events, including concerts, films and talks by acclaimed speakers. The last truly utopian urban planning project in London and greatly inspired by his aesthetic, Barbican presents the perfect backdrop to explore the man and his legacy.
Thursday Lates
The Gallery is open every Thursday until 10pm. Meet friends at the Gallery cocktail bar and join architects, designers and others for their personal take on the exhibition.
 Digital Cities looks at how digital technology helps us understand and improve the planning and experience of our city. It will look at the impact on movement in cities: how communication and information technologies enhance a person´s experience of place; how people interpret cities with the use of technology; and how mapping influences the design and planning of cities. It will also discuss some of the ‘big brother’issues such as privacy and security.
The exhibition will be presented through a number of research and commercial projects which use technology to provide planning and design and communication tool for the city. It will contain live and interactive presentations in a number of digital media.
Produced by
The Building Centre
Curated by
The Building Centre and Sir Terry Farrell
For three evenings in October, a new interactive smoky communication will be underway in central London – one that combines a very modern medium with a 5,000-year-old one. In Memory Cloud, visitors can text any message they like to the artists’ creation, and that phone message will be made into light-and-air smoke signals and huge in Trafalgar Square. This new exploration of personal expression in public spaces is from Minimaforms, founded in 2002 by brothers Stephen and Theodore Spyropoulos as an experimental architecture and design practice that explores projects that provoke and facilitate new means of communication.
The South Bank Centre is illuminated this Christmas with light displays by British artist David Batchelor. Renowned for his transformations of everyday objects, Batchelor lights up the construction materials around the Royal Festival Hall giving new colourful life to pallets and bins and garlands the riverside with low-energy lights in recycled drinks containers.
In a busy weekend I popped along to the whitechapel gallery for the David Adjaye exhibition. I was actually take aback just how many buildings he has actually had built. A very nice display of works.
